THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 


370 
116  . 

No.  26-34 


University  of  lUinoisUbra^ 


UA1 


Mi  '• 


OCT  3 1  M4 
JAM  2  3  W5 

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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://www.archive.org/details/arecollegestuden34odel 


9.  Terms    (continued) 

(668)  What  arc  Traditions?    Theories:    Laws? 

(669)  Contrast:     Tribunal    and   Popular    Sentiment:    Cooperation    and 
Approbation. 

(670)  What  is  meant  by  the  "Age  of  Science?" 

(671)  Explain  "Balance  of  Power.'" 

(672)  Explain:    Internationalism.  Imperialism,  Socialism.  Nullification. 

(673)  What  is  meant  by  "The  Totem  Pole:"' 


fKE 


I  '-8  1 


BULLETIN  NO.  34 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 


ARE  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  A 
SELECT  GROUP? 


Bv 


Charles  W.  Odell 

Assistant  Director,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   ILLINOIS,  URBANA 

1927 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 5 

Chapter  I.    Introduction  and  Statement  of  the  Problem 7 

Chapter  II.    The  Evidence  as  to  the   Selection  Among  Col- 
lege Students  in  General 13 

Chapter  III.    Differences  Between  the  Groups  of  Freshmen 

Attending  Various  Institutions  of  FIigher  Learning.  .      30 

Chapter  IV.    Differences  Between  the  Groups  of  Freshmen 

Carrying  Various   Subjects 37 

Chapter  V.    Summary  and  Conclusions 44 


PREFACE 

Studies  of  the  intelligence  of  high-school  seniors  and  their  intentions 
of  attending  college,  notably  the  Indiana  study  by  Book,  have  created 
the  impression  that  practically  no  selection  takes  place  between  the  high 
school  and  the  college.  This  hypothesis  has  been  strengthened  by  ob- 
servation of  college  freshmen  and  by  reports  showing  that  large  num- 
bers of  them  fail  to  do  satisfactory  work.  In  interpreting  Book's 
findings  and  the  result  of  similar  studies,  most  persons  appear  to  have 
failed  to  realize  that  expressing  the  "intention  of  attending  college"  was 
not  the  same  as  "attending  college,"  and  that  the  group  which  enters 
college  may  differ  in  significant  respects  from  the  group  which  indicated 
the  intention  of  attending  college. 

In  this  Bulletin  Dr.  Odell  presents  information  relative  to  a  group 
of  high-school  graduates  who  actually  entered  college.  In  addition  to 
the  intrinsic  value  of  the  facts  reported,  the  study  demonstrates  the 
need  for  more  critical  evaluation  of  data  in  conducting  educational  re- 
search. In  many  investigations,  the  researcher  works  with  substitute 
data  and  frequently  he  changes  the  label  attached  to  them  without 
keeping  in  mind  that  he  has  done  so.  For  example,  Book  and  many  of 
those  who  have  used  his  data  substituted  "college  entrance"  for  "expres- 
sion of  an  intention  of  attending  college"  and  failed  to  keep  this  fact  in 
mind. 

Dr.  Odell's  study  is  significant  in  another  respect.  He  calls  atten- 
tion to  certain  faults  of  his  data  and  then  shows  that  the  nature  of 
these  faults  is  such  that  they  do  not  seriously  weaken  his  conclusions. 
The  researcher  in  the  field  of  education  seldom  works  with  perfect  data; 
frequently  they  involve  errors,  both  constant  and  variable;  and  in  many 
cases  they  are  lacking  in  validity.  The  researcher  must  know  his 
data  if  he  is  to  be  scientific;  he  must  ascertain  their  faults.  But  he 
should  not  stop  here;  he  should  inquire  concerning  the  probable  effect 
of  these  faults  when  the  data  are  applied  to  his  problem.  Sometimes, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  present  study,  it  may  be  shown  that  the  existing 
faults  do  not  seriously  limit  the  conclusions. 

Walter  S.  Monroe,  Director. 
March  17,  1927. 


[51 


ARE  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  A  SELECT  GROUP? 

CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION  AND  STATEMENT  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

The  recent  increase  in  college  enrollment.  One  of  the  most  out- 
standing and  significant  recent  educational  tendencies  in  this  country 
is  the  notable  increase  in  school  enrollment.  It  is  true  that  this  tendency 
has  existed  and  grown  steadily  during  the  whole  history  of  our  coun- 
try, but  it  has  become  much  more  marked  during  the  past  generation, 
especially  since  the  World  War.  so  that  it  has  been  a  major  factor  in 
creating  what  many  consider  our  outstanding  educational  problem  of 
today.  Although  this  increase  has  occurred  in  all  the  major  divisions 
of  our  educational  system,  it  has  been  unusually  rapid  in  high  school 
and  college.1  The  figures  in  the  most  recent  statistical  summary  of 
education  issued  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education-  reveal  this' 
fact  very  clearly.  At  present  there  are  in  round  numbers  four  million 
students  in  our  secondary  schools  and  one  million  in  our  institutions  of 
higher  learning.  In  both  cases,  the  five  years  beginning  in  1920  show 
a  greater  increase,  both  absolute  and  relative,  than  any  previous  period 
of  similar  length.  The  number  of  students  in  secondary  schools  in  pro- 
portion to  our  population  is  now  about  six  times  as  great  as  in  1890  and 
the  number  of  those  in  colleges  more  than  three  times  as  great.  Ex- 
pressing the  same  facts  otherwise,  in  1890  approximate!}'  one-fourth  of 
1  per  cent  of  the  whole  population  or  1  per  cent  of  the  total  school  en- 
rollment consisted  of  college  students,  whereas  in  1924  more  than  three- 
fourths  of  1  per  cent  of  the  whole  population  or  about  3V-<  per  cent  of 
the  total  school  enrollment  was  in  college. 

A  problem  resulting  from  the  increase  in  school  enrollment.  Such 
a  rapid  and  largely  unanticipated  increase  in  enrollment  cannot  occur 
without  creating  a  number  of  problems.  Undoubtedly  the  one  of  these 
problems  which,  because  of  its  very  practical  and  pressing  nature,  has 
received  the  most  attention,  is  that  of  providing  the  necessary  financial 
support.     In  the  first  place,  this  great  increase  in  enrollment,  occurring 


'Throughout  this  discussion  the  term  "college'"  will  be  used  for  the  sake  of  brevity 
to  refer  to  colleges,  normal  schools,  universities  and  all  other  institutions  of  higher 
learning. 

^Phillips,  Frank  M.  '"Statistical  summary  of  education  192.1-1924."  U.  S.  Bu- 
reau of  Education  Bulletin.   1926.  No.  19.     Washington.   1926.     7  p. 

[7] 


at  a  time  when  the  purchasing  power  of  the  dollar  has  suffered  a  very 
marked  decline,  necessitates  greatly  augmented  expenditures  merely  to 
preserve  the  previous  scope  and  efficiency  of  our  schools.  In  addition 
to  this,  however,  recent  decades  have  witnessed  a  growing  demand  on 
the  part  of  those  charged  with  the  administration  of  our  schools,  and 
also  to  a  large  extent  upon  the  part  of  the  general  public,  for  broaden- 
ing and  enriching  the  offerings  of  our  schools,  securing  teachers  with 
better  training,  providing  better  buildings  and  equipment,  and  other 
advances,  all  of  which  require  greater  expenditures.  Such  demands 
have  served  to  render  the  problem  still  more  urgent  and  it  has  been 
practically  impossible  to  secure  from  state  legislatures,  local  taxing 
bodies,  and  the  general  public  the  amounts  of  money  which  educators 
have  regarded  as  necessary.  This  reluctance  or  refusal  on  the  part  of 
those  who  determine  school  revenues  has  been  manifested  in  the  case  of 
state  universities,  normal  schools,  and  other  publicly  supported  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning  as  well  as  in  that  of  elementary  and  high  schools. 
Institutions  not  supported  by  public  taxation  have  likewise  suffered  be- 
cause, although  they  have  been  the  recipients  of  more  or  less  steadily 
increasing  benefactions  from  private  sources,  their  incomes  have  in 
many  instances  not  grown  in  proportion  to  the  increases  of  sizes  of  stu- 
dent bodies  and  in  cost. 

A  suggested  solution  of  the  problem.  A  number  of  solutions  for 
this  problem  have  been  suggested,  but  the  one  which  has  probably  re- 
ceived the  most  attention  is  the  proposal  that  our  colleges  exercise  a 
much  greater  degree  of  selection  among  those  who  desire  to  enter  and 
admit  only  those  high-school  graduates  who  can  offer  rather  definite 
evidence  of  their  ability  to  derive  and  give  back  to  society  considerable 
profit  from  a  college  education.  In  connection  with  this  proposal  it  is 
frequently  assumed  that  the  intellectual  quality  of  the  large  number  of 
students  now  entering  college  is,  on  the  average,  much  lower  than  was 
that  of  the  comparatively  select  few  who  entered  a  generation  or  more 
ago.  In  some  cases,  this  has  not  merely  been  assumed,  but  has  been 
expressed  as  a  definite  opinion  or  even  stated  as  a  fact.  Many  college 
presidents  and  others3  in  such  positions  as  to  give  their  opinions  weight 

3One  of  the  strongest  statements  in  support  of  this  point  of  view  has  been  made  by 
Thorndike  who  is  probably  as  well  qualified  as  anyone  to  render  an  opinion.  Although 
he  refers  to  the  secondary  school  rather  than  the  college  it  would  be  decidedly  surprising 
if  his  statement  did  not  also  apply  to  the  latter.  Referring  to  the  fraction  of  those  of 
the  proper  age  now  attending  high  school,  he  states  that  "we  lack  measures  of  the  in- 
born capacities  of  the  one  in  ten  or  eleven  of  a  generation  ago  and  have  only  very 
scanty  measures  of  the  capacities  of  the  one  in  three  of  today.  We  have,  however, 
excellent  reasons  for  believing  that  the  one  in  ten  had  greater  capacities  for  algebra  and 

[3] 


have  supported  this  view  and  have  advocated  more  selective  entrance 
requirements  or,  in  some  cases,  more  rigid  selection  during  the  first  year 
or  two  in  college.  On  the  other  hand,  many  educators  who  likewise 
are  in  close  touch  with  the  situation  and  should  be  able  to  form  valid 
opinions  deny  that  there  is  any  appreciable  lowering  of  the  average  in- 
tellectual quality  of  those  who  seek  admission  to  college.  They  point 
to  the  generally  granted  fact  that  a  selective  process  is  going  on 
throughout  our  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  more  especially  in 
the  latter,  and  maintain  that  this  process  is  all  or  practically  all  that  is 
needed  to  control  the  situation.  In  other  words,  they  assert  that  al- 
most all  those  who  are  being  allowed  to  graduate  from  our  secondary 
schools  possess  sufficient  ability  to  profit  by  a  college  education  and 
therefore  that  our  institutions  of  higher  learning,  more  particularly  those 
supported  by  the  state,  should  open  their  doors  with  no  or  almost  no 
reservations  to  all  high-school  graduates  who  wish  to  enter.  The  pro- 
ponents of  neither  side  in  this  controversy  have  offered  enough  objective 
and  relevant  data  to  support  their  position. 

A  second  important  problem.  In  addition  to  the  problem  of  secur- 
ing the  funds  necessary  to  provide  sufficient  facilities  for  the  rapidly 
increasing  number  of  students  in  institutions  of  higher  learning,  a  sec- 
ond problem  is  that  of  what  facilities  should  be  provided  for  the  less 
capable  students.  Those  who  believe  that  the  intellectual  level  of  college 
students  is  below  what  it  was  in  the  past  consider  this  a  more  import- 
ant problem  than  do  those  on  the  other  side  of  the  controversy.  The 
latter,  however,  do  not  and  can  not  deny  that  large  numbers  of  students 
who  enter  college  are  not  successful  in  carrying  the  work  offered. 
Whether  this  failure  is  due  to  lack  of  mental  ability,  to  poor  habits  of 
study,  to  higher  standards  of  work  or  to  some  other  cause  the  question 
of  what  to  do  with  such  students  is  generally  regarded  as  of  vital  im- 
portance. Many  of  those  who  contend  that  the  intellectual  level  of  col- 
lege students  is  lower  today  than  formerly  advocate  some  plan  of  pro- 
viding a  differentiated  type  of  education  for  students  of  inferior  ability. 
A  few  even  go  so  far  as  to  urge  that  such  individuals  should  not  attempt 
to  continue  their  education  beyond  the  secondary  level,  but  most  edu- 
cators believe  that  they  should  be  given  the  opportunity  to  continue 
their  education  or  perhaps  even  required  to  do  so.  Industrial  or  other 
vocational  work  with  related  subjects,  in  either  full-time  or  part-time 
schools,  is  most  often  suggested  for  this  purpose.     On  the  other  hand, 

for  intellectual  tasks  generally  than  the  one  in  three  of  today."  (Thorndike,  E.  L. 
"Changes  in  the  quality  of  pupils  entering  the  high  school,"  School  Review,  30:355-59, 
May,  1922.) 

[9] 


most  of  those  who  believe  that  the  college  students  of  today  are  the  in- 
tellectual equals  of  those  of  the  past  maintain  that  the  colleges  them- 
selves are  primarily  to  blame  for  the  large  per  cents  of  failures  and  that 
the  remedy  lies  in  better  selection  and  organization  of  subject  matter, 
improved  instruction,  training  in  study  habits,  and,  in  general,  in  do- 
ing those  things  which  both  induce  and  enable  students  to  do  approxi- 
mately the  maximum  work  of  which  they  are  capable. 

This  problem  has  been  referred  to  in  describing  the  present  situ- 
ation but  it  is  not  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  offer  even  a  partial  so- 
lution. However,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  following  paragraphs,  the 
data  to  be  presented  do  have  a  bearing  upon  the  question  of  the  intel- 
lectual ability  of  college  entrants  and  in  so  far  as  they  offer  an  answer 
to  this  they  enter  into  the  solution  of  the  second  problem.  This  state- 
ment does  not  imply,  however,  that  determination  of  the  intellectual 
ability  of  those  who  seek  admission  to  college  even  though  it  be  an  ac- 
curate one  is  a  satisfactory  basis  for  deciding  the  type  of  training  which 
each  should  receive.  Not  mere  intellectual  ability  but  other  abilities, 
aptitudes,  and  interests  as  well  as  the  needs  of  society  must  be  consid- 
ered. 

Possible  methods  and  difficulties  of  determining  differences  in  the 
ability  of  college  students  of  the  past  and  present.  Although  it  would 
not  completely 'solve  the  problems  stated  above  it  would  be  a  definite 
step  in  this  direction  if  those  on  the  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  conten- 
tion as  to  the  intellectual  quality  of  college  students  could  prove  their 
point.  To  do  this,  however,  is  very  difficult  if  not  absolutely  impossible. 
It  is  true  that  mental  tests  have  exhibited  almost  phenomenal  develop- 
ment within  the  past  few  years  until  the  best  of  them  are  fairly  satis- 
factory instruments  for  measuring  the  ability  or  trait  commonly  called 
''general  intelligence."  especially  when  group  averages  and  not  individ- 
ual scores  are  employed.  We  have,  however,  no  comparable  data  from 
the  past  with  which  to  compare  the  results  obtained  from  the  present 
use  of  such  tests. 

Another  possible  line  of  attack  is  through  the  measurement  of  the 
intelligence  of  college  students  and  the  comparison  of  the  results  with 
those  obtained  from  high-school  seniors.  However,  few  if  any  studies 
of  this  sort  have  yielded  valid  evidence.  They  have  usually  revealed 
the  anticipated  fact  that  the  intelligence  of  the  college  group  is  on  the 
whole  above  that  of  high-school  seniors  but  they  have  not  presented 
evidence  to  show  how  much  of  this  increase  resulted  from  the  added 
vear  or  more  of  maturitv  and  how  much  from  the  factor  of  selection. 


[10] 


Another  possible  method  of  answering  the  question  would  be  to 
secure  the  answers  of  students  of  a  generation  or  more  ago  to  college 
entrance  examinations  and  compare  them  with  answers  to  the  same 
questions  obtained  from  a  present-day  group  of  entering  students.  Even 
if  such  a  comparison  were  made  and  the  measures  assumed  to  be  reliable 
and  valid,  the  results  would  not  furnish  conclusive  evidence  for  the 
reason  that  there  are  at  least  two  chief  causes  which  might  explain  any 
difference.  These  are,  of  course,  the  two  familiar  factors  of  heredity 
and  environment.  It  may  be  that  the  supposedly  superior  training  now 
given  in  our  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  perhaps  supplemented 
by  more  favorable  environmental  conditions  outside  of  school,  operates 
so  that  the  college  entrants  of  today  would  make  higher  marks  upon 
examinations  or.  for  that  matter,  higher  scores  upon  intelligence  tests, 
than  did  those  of  the  past,  even  though  the  latter  possessed  as  high  or 
higher  native  ability. 

A  still  further  complication  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  work 
offered  in  most  of  our  colleges  covers  a  much  broader  scope  and  oth- 
erwise differs  a  great  deal  from  that  given  twenty-five  or  fifty  years 
ago.  Therefore  we  do  not  know  whether  the  same,  a  higher,  or  a  lower 
degree  of  intellectual  ability  is  possessed  by  students  able  to  do  suc- 
cessful work  in  college  at  present  as  compared  with  those  who  did  so  in 
the  past. 

The  problem  of  this  bulletin.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  bulletin  to 
present  some  data  which  bear  upon  the  point  at  issue,  though  they  in 
no  sense  form  the  basis  for  a  complete  answer  to  the  question.  They 
are  the  result  of  the  writer's  continuing  a  stud}4  begun  in  1923  and  sim- 
ilar in  the  general  outline  of  its  first  part  to  several  investigations3  previ- 
ously carried  on  by  others.  In  these  studies.  Book  and  Williams  in  In- 
diana. Trabue  and  Mann  in  Xorth  Carolina.  Colvin  and  McPhail  in 


''Odell,  C.  W.  "Conservation  of  intelligence  in  Illinois  high  schools."  University 
of  Illinois  Bulletin,  Vol.  22,  Xo.  25.  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  Bulletin  Xo.  22. 
Urbana:  University  of  Illinois.  1925.     55  p. 

5Book,  W.  F.  The  Intelligence  of  High  School  Seniors.  New  York:  The  Macmil- 
lan  Company,  1922.    371  p. 

Book,  W.  F.  "A  preliminary  report  on  the  state-wide  mental  survey  of  high 
school  seniors."  Indiana  University  Extension  Division  Bulletin,  Vol.  6,  Xo.  1.  Bloom- 
ington,  Indiana:  Indiana  University,  1920,  p.  31-67.  (Contains  a  brief  summary'  of  the 
study. ) 

Manx,  G.  W.  "Selective  influence  of  desire  to  attend  college,"  The  High  School 
Journal,  7:8-9,  January,  1924. 

Colvin,  S.  S.,  and  McPhail,  A.  H.  "Intelligence  of  seniors  in  the  high  schools  of 
Massachusetts."  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin.  1924.  Xo.  9.  Washington,  1924. 
39  p. 

[11] 


Massachusetts,  and  the  writer  in  Illinois  secured  intelligence  test  scores 
and  other  data  from  rather  large  numbers  of  high-school  seniors  and 
compared  such  of  these  data  as  were  pertinent  with  the  expressed  in- 
tentions of  the  seniors  regarding  the  continuation  of  their  education.  In 
so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  however,  the  studies  in  Indiana,  North  Car- 
olina, and  Massachusetts  have  not  been  continued  to  the  point  of  follow- 
ing up  the  seniors  after  they  left  high  school  to  ascertain  which  ones  en- 
tered college  and  how  well  they  were  able  to  do  their  college  work.  In 
the  Illinois  study,  however,  this  has  been  done  and  it  is  the  chief  pur- 
pose of  this  bulletin  to  present  what  has  been  found  regarding  the  re- 
lationship of  ability  as  shown  by  intelligence  test  results  and  high-school 
marks  to  actual  college  entrance.  Some  slight  reference  will  also  be 
made  to  the  group  of  students  who  remained  in  college  through  the 
freshman  year.  As  a  minor  part  of  the  discussion  the  findings  in  all 
four  studies  as  to  the  relationship  between  intelligence  and  college  in- 
tentions will  be  briefly  summarized.  Furthermore,  the  scores  and  marks 
of  those  who  attended  college  will  be  grouped  to  show  what  differences 
existed  between  the  students  attracted  by  ten  different  large  institutions 
or  groups  of  institutions  and  also  those  between  the  students  carrying 
different  freshman  subjects. 


[12] 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  EVIDENCE  AS  TO  SELECTION  AMONG 
COLLEGE  STUDENTS  IN  GENERAL 

The  evidence  offered  by  the  studies  in  Indiana,  North  Carolina, 
and  Massachusetts.  Since  the  studies  made  in  these  three  states  were 
not  continued  to  the  point  of  following  up  the  high-school  seniors  in- 
cluded into  college,  only  brief  reference  will  be  made  to  them  to  show 
what  differences  were  found  between  those  seniors  who  stated  that  they 
intended  to  continue  their  education  and  the  total  groups.  In  his  re- 
port of  the  Indiana  study  Book  does  not  give  data  from  which  the  exact 
median  or  mean  scores  can  be  obtained,  but  it  appears  that  the  differ- 
ence in  the  averages  of  the  two  groups  did  not  exceed  one  point  on  the 
test  used.6  He  divided  the  seniors  into  three  classes,  high,  average,  and 
low  on  the  basis  of  intelligence,  and  found  that  of  all  the  seniors,  22  per 
cent  possessed  high  and  26  per  cent  low  intelligence,  whereas  for  those 
who  planned  to  continue  their  education  the  corresponding  per  cents 
were  23  and  25.  Therefore  it  may  be  said  that  the  investigation  in  In- 
diana indicated  that  very  little  selection  had  taken  place  in  the  group 
of  high-school  seniors  who  planned  to  attend  college. 

The  North  Carolina  study  showed  a  somewhat  higher  degree  of 
selection.  Those  who  were  planning  to  attend  college  had  a  median 
point  score7  of  112,  whereas  the  whole  group  of  seniors  had  one  of  109. 
Dividing  the  seniors  into  high,  average,  and  low  groups  with  scores  of 
120  and  100  as  the  dividing  points,  30  per  cent  of  those  planning  to  go 
to  college  were  in  the  high  and  19  per  cent  in  the  low  group,  whereas 
of  all  high-school  seniors  only  23  per  cent  were  in  the  high  and  25  per 
cent  in  the  low  group.  In  other  words  the  excess  of  those  in  the  high 
group  over  those  in  the  low  was  1 1  per  cent  for  seniors  who  planned 
to  go  to  college,  whereas  for  all  seniors  the  low  group  was  2  per  cent 
larger. 

In  the  Massachusetts  study  the  seniors  were  divided  into  three 
groups  and  designated  as  good,  questionable,  or  bad  college  risks  ac- 
cording to  the  records  of  students  at  Brown  University  who  had  taken 
the  same  test8  in  previous  years.     On  the  basis  just  mentioned  26  per 


This  was  the  Indiana  University  Intelligence  Scale,  Schedule  D. 

'The  point  scores  mentioned  were  made  upon  Trabue's  Mentimeters. 

8In  this  case  the  Brown  University  Psychological  Examination   was  employed. 


[13] 


cent  of  all  seniors  were  classed  as  good  and  54  per  cent  as  bad  risks, 
whereas  of  those  planning  to  go  to  college  34  per  cent  were  good  and 
46  per  cent  bad  risks.  This  difference  of  8  per  cent  in  each  case  is 
great  enough  to  indicate  that  some  definite  selection  took  place. 

The  collection  and  tabulation  of  data  in  the  Illinois  investigation. 
The  Illinois  data  which  the  writer  will  utilize  were  obtained  in  a  study 
which  was  begun  with  high-school  seniors  of  1923-24  and  was  contin- 
ued to  follow  a  number  of  them  through  their  freshman  year  in  college. 
In  the  autumn  of  1923,  all  of  the  four-year  public  high  schools  in  Illi- 
nois were  asked  to  have  their  seniors  take  the  Otis  Self-Administering 
Test  of  Mental  Ability,  Higher  Examination,  Form  A,  and  fill  out  an 
"Information  Blank  for  High  School  Seniors,"9  which  called  for  the  fol- 
lowing information: 

Name 

Sex 

Date  of  Birth 

Age  on  September  1 ,  1923 

Name  of  school 

Town  or  city 

Intentions  concerning  further  education 

Intention    of   continuing 

Institution 

Course 

Major  subject 

Vocational  choice 

Father's   occupation 

Information  as  to  previous  intelligence  tests  taken 

Units  of   high-school   credit 

High-school  subjects  liked  most 

High-school  subjects  liked  least 

Number  of  failures  in  high  school 

Average  school  mark  in  high  school 

Three  hundred  and  sixty-eight  schools,  or  more  than  half  of  those  in 
the  state,  cooperated  at  that  time  and  contributed  data  for  more  than 
twelve  thousand  seniors. 

The  second  step  in  the  investigation  was  taken  a  year  later  when 
most  of  the  seniors  concerning  whom  data  had  been  obtained  had  been 
graduated  from  high  school.  At  this  time  requests  were  sent  to  the  par- 
ticipating schools  for  the  complete  scholastic  records  of  these  individu- 
als.    A  small  number  had  not  been  graduated  and  a  few  high  schools 


"The  tests  were  administered  by  high-school  principals  or  teachers  designated  by 
them  and  the  blanks  filled  out  by  the  seniors  themselves.  All  scoring  of  test  papers  and 
all  tabulating  of  test  and  other  results  was  done  at  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Re- 
search under  the  supervision  of  the  writer. 


[14] 


no  longer  continued  their  cooperation,  but  the  complete  records  of  over 
eleven  thousand  graduates  were  secured. 

In  the  fall  of  1925  all  of  the  more  than  three  hundred  institutions 
of  higher  learning  named  by  the  seniors  were  asked  to  supply  the  com- 
plete 1924-25  records  of  all  of  their  students  who  had  been  included  in 
this  study.  A  few  of  these  institutions  which  rather  large  numbers  of 
students  had  indicated  their  intention  of  attending  and  a  large  number 
of  those  named  by  only  one  or  a  few  students  each  did  not  furnish  the 
information  requested,  but  the  majority  of  them  did  so.  In  spite  of  this 
generous  cooperation  and  also  despite  the  fact  that  approximately  seven 
thousand  seven  hundred  seniors  had  stated  definitely  that  they  expected 
to  attend,  the  records  of  less  than  two  thousand  who  actually  entered 
college  were  secured.10 

After  the  mental  test  papers  had  been  scored  and  the  point  scores 
computed  these  were  turned  into  intelligence  quotients  according  to  the 
directions  given  by  Otis.  Since  the  general  reader  is  undoubtedly  more 
familiar  with  the  use  and  meaning  of  intelligence  quotients  than  with 
point  scores  upon  the  Otis  or  any  other  particular  test  the  former  will 
be  the  chief  basis  of  making  the  comparisons  of  intelligence  presented 
in  this  report.  A  second  means  of  comparing  different  groups  of  stu- 
dents will  be  the  average  marks  received  by  them  in  high  school.  Since 
the  marks  secured  from  the  several  hundred  high  schools  which  partici- 
pated were  given  according  to  a  large  number  of  different  marking  sys- 
tems they  were  all  reduced  to  a  comparable  basis.  This  was  done  by 
securing  from  each  school  as  complete  an  explanation  of  its  system  as 
possible  and,  using  this  information  as  a  guide,  transmuting  all  marks 
to  a  percentile  system  with  the  passing  mark  at  70  and  no  conditions.11 

The  reliability  of  the  data  to  be  presented.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  in  both  the  intelligence  test  results  and  the  school  marks  large 
variable  errors  are  present.  Xo  group  intelligence  test  yields  highly  re- 
liable individual  scores  and  the  one  used  in  this  case  is  probably  less  re- 
liable than  a  test  which  requires  two  or  three  hours  to  give  instead  of 
the  half  hour  which  the  Otis  test  consumes.    Furthermore,  the  fact  that 


10In  addition  to  the  refusal  of  a  number  of  colleges  to  cooperate  the  two  other 
most  important  factors  causing  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  records  secured  were  that 
the  reports  from  some  institutions  were  not  complete  and  that  many  of  the  high-school 
graduates  found  it  necessary  to  be  out  of  school  a  year  or  more  before  entering  the  col- 
leges of  their  choice. 

"This  system  was  adopted  because  after  the  first  forty  or  fifty  high  schools  had 
sent  in  their  data  it  was  found  to  be  used  by  more  of  them  than  any  other  one.  Later 
when  all  schools  had  reported  it  was  found  that  a  percentile  system  with  a  passing  mark 
of  75  instead  of  70  was  in  more  common  use. 


[15  J 


the  tests  were  not  administered  by  trained  examiners,  but  by  several 
hundred  different  persons,  many  of  whom  had  probably  never  given  a 
standardized  test  before,  undoubtedly  increased  the  errors  present  in 
the  scores.  On  the  other  hand,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  directions  to 
be  given  by  examiners  are  reduced  to  a  minimum,  scores  on  the  Otis 
Self-Administerin?  Test  are  probably  less  liable  to  errors  due  to  sub- 
jective qualities  of  the  persons  giving  the  tests  than  are  these  yielded  by 
most  group  tests. 

At  this  point,  attention  should  be  called  to  a  constant  error  intro- 
duced into  the  intelligence  quotients  employed  in  this  study  by  the 
method  which  Otis  provides  for  determining  I.Q.'s.  This  method  is  such 
that  no  person  fourteen  years  of  age  can  be  credited  with  a  higher  I.Q. 
than  143,  no  person  of  fifteen  with  one  higher  than  139,  of  sixteen 
higher  than  136,  of  seventeen  higher  than  134,  and  of  eighteen  higher 
than  133.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  for  those  of  any  age  to  re- 
ceive I.Q.'s  as  low  as  58.  Inasmuch  as  very  fewr  of  those  included  in 
the  study  were  under  fifteen  years  of  age  when  tested  and  the  majority 
seventeen  or  older  it  can  be  seen  that  his  method  sets  an  absolute  and 
arbitrary  upper  limit  to  intelligence  quotients  not  so  far  above  normal 
or  100  as  the  lower  limit  is  below  that  point.  Furthermore,  Otis'  method 
not  merely  sets  this  definite  upper  limit,  but  also  more  or  less  scales 
down  I.Q.'s  above  average,  this  effect  being  greater  the  nearer  they  ap- 
proach the  upper  limit.  We  know  from  other  evidence  that  the  highest 
I.Q.'s  found  in  a  large  group  of  high-school  seniors  will  run  well  above 
130  or  140.  Terman12  states  that  the  highest  1  per  cent  of  children 
have  I.Q.'s  above  130  and  most  other  investigators  agree  approximately 
writh  this  statement.  For  high-school  seniors  who  have  undergone  some 
selection  as  indicated  by  a  mean  I.Q.  of  103  instead  of  100  the  propor- 
tion above  130  is  undoubtedly  somewhat  greater  than  1  per  cent.  There- 
fore, in  considering  the  intelligence  quotients  to  be  presented  later  in 
this  discussion  the  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  those  above  average 
or  at  least  certainly  those  above  110  should  be  somewhat  higher  than 
they  are.  This  of  course  means  that  the  averages  computed  from  the 
distributions  should  also  be  slightly  higher  than  those  actually  obtained. 
Attention  will  be  called  to  this  fact  later  in  interpreting  the  facts  pre- 
sented. 

In  addition  to  the  fact  just  mentioned,  another  point  should  also  be 
taken  into  consideration  in  interpreting  the  intelligence  quotients  ob- 
tained in  this  and  also  in  other  similar  studies.     It  was  stated  in  the 


"Termax,  L.  M.     The  Intelligence  of  School  Children.     Boston:   Houghton  Mif- 
flin Company,  1919,  p.  8. 

[15  J 


preceding  paragraph  that  it  is  possible  for  I.Q.'s  on  the  test  used  to  be 
as  low  as  58  and,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  data  presented  later,  a  few 
below  65  were  actually  secured  and  many  others  in  the  upper  sixties, 
the  seventies  and  eighties.  Both  the  evidence  which  we  have  on  the 
matter  and  a  common  sense  interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  the  I.Q. 
indicate  that  it  is  unlikely  that  individuals  with  I.Q.'s  below  90  can 
successfully  complete  a  high-school  course  and  still  more  improbable 
that  they  can  do  satisfactory  work  in  college.  The  explanation  of  this 
discrepancy  between  the  intelligence  quotients  found  in  this  and  other 
studies  and  the  evident  facts  in  the  case  undoubtedly  results  from  nega- 
tive errors,  some  of  which  are  decidedly  large,  in  the  test  scores.  Al- 
most half  of  the  seniors  tested  stated  that  they  had  never  before  taken 
an  intelligence  test  and  undoubtedly  a  number  of  these  wasted  a  consid- 
erable amount  of  time  in  getting  started  because  of  failure  to  under- 
stand instructions  or  to  realize  that  it  was  important  to  start  promptly. 
Others  probably  began  at  once  but  did  not  understand  exactly  what 
they  were  to  do  or  spent  an  undue  amount  of  time  trying  to  make  sure 
that  each  item  was  correctly  answered.  Still  others,  whether  they  had 
been  tested  before  or  not,  probably  did  not  put  forth  their  best  efforts 
either  because  they  were  below  par  physically  or  mentally  or  because 
they  were  not  particularly  interested  in  the  test  and  cared  little  whether 
they  made  high  scores  or  not.  Because  of  these  and  other  reasons  few 
if  any  of  the  low  I.Q's  obtained  should  be  regarded  as  reliable  measures 
of  the  intelligence  of  the  seniors  tested. 

The  subjectivity  and  unreliability  of  ordinary  school  marks  has 
been  too  often  shown  and  discussed  to  need  extended  comment  here.  In 
this  study  the  errors  of  this  sort  present  were  undoubtedly  increased 
somewhat  by  the  fact  that  marks  from  several  hundred  schools  with 
different  standards  and  ideals  were  thrown  together  and  also  by  the  fact 
that  it  was  necessary  to  convert  them  to  a  common  basis.  Although 
this  was  done  as  carefully  and  by  as  sound  statistical  procedure  as  pos- 
sible the  information  at  hand  was  not  in  all  cases  sufficient  to  render  the 
transmutation  highly  accurate. 

The  factor  of  unreliability  or  inaccuracy  in  the  test  results  and 
school  marks  should  not,  however,  be  overemphasized.  When  scores 
for  comparatively  large  numbers  of  individuals  are  dealt  with,  the  prob- 
ability is  very  strong  that,  even  though  the  variable  errors  are  both  nu- 
merous and  large,  they  will  balance  one  another  so  that  the  averages 
secured  will  not  be  seriously  in  error.  It  should  also  be  remembered 
that  although  there  may  be  and  undoubtedly  are  constant  errors  pres- 


[171 


ent  in  particular  groups  of  scores,13  yet  when  these  groups  are  thrown 
together  into  one  large  group  they  become  variable  errors  with  respect 
to  the  total  group  or  distribution  and  therefore  are  unlikely  to  affect  its 
average  any  more  seriously  than  the  variable  errors  present  in  individ- 
ual scores  or  marks.  In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  extremely  unlikely 
that  averages  will  be  in  error  by  as  much  as  one  point.  For  the  whole 
group  of  those  entering  college  there  is  only  about  one  chance  in  sixty 
thousand  that  the  mean  I.Q.  is  one  point  in  error  and  one  in  almost  in- 
finity in  the  case  of  the  mean  high-school  average.14 

The  four  groups  compared  in  this  study.  The  data  to  be  presented 
have  been  tabulated  to  differentiate  the  four  following  groups:  (1)  all 
high-school  graduates;  (2)  graduates  who  stated  that  they  were  defi- 
nitely planning  to  attend  college;  (3)  those  known  to  have  entered  col- 
lege and  for  whom  college  records  were  secured;15  and  (4)  those 
still  in  college  at  the  end  of  the  freshman  year  and  receiving  marks  on 
the  last  semester's  or  term's  work  of  that  year.  This  last  group  is  in- 
cluded because  it  may  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  some  readers  to  see 
how  it  compares  with  the  others,  though  such  a  comparison  is  not  an 
integral  part  of  the  purpose  of  this  bulletin.  It  will  be  seen  that  each 
group  is  more  inclusive  than  the  next  one,  including  all  of  the  following 
group  and  also  many  others  not  in  it. 

The  intelligence  quotients  of  the  different  groups  in  respect  to 
college  careers.  Table  I  presents  the  distributions  of  intelligence  quo- 
tients of  the  four  groups  both  by  actual  numbers  and  by  per  cents. 
Reading  down  the  first  column,  for  example,  one  sees  that  32  of  the 
whole  number  of  high-school  graduates  had  intelligence  quotients  from 
131  to  135,  inclusive,  that  186  had  I.Q.'s  from  126  to  130,  and  so  on, 
the  total  number  of  graduates  being  11,321.     The  first  column  in  the 


"For  example,  the  person  giving  the  test  may  have  allowed  too  much  or  too  little 
time  or  given  too  much  help  and  thus  made  all  the  scores  of  the  group  too  high  or  too 
low.  Similarly  in  the  case  of  school  marks  a  particular  school  may  tend  to  mark  much 
higher  or  much  lower  than  most  schools  and  thus  introduce  a  constant  error  into  the 
records  of  all  its  graduates. 

"The  standard  error  of  the  mean  I.Q.  is  about  .23  of  a  point  and  that  of  the 
mean  high-school  average  about  .12.  Therefore  a  distance  of  approximately  4.3  sigma 
in  the  first  case  and  8.3  sigma  in  the  second  is  required  to  include  the  chance  of  an 
error  of  one  point.    These  distances  correspond  to  the  chances  stated  above. 

"Except  in  the  case  of  business  colleges,  very  few  of  which  supplied  any  records, 
there  was  no  marked  difference  in  the  degree  of  cooperation  received  from  institutions  of 
various  types.  Therefore  the  writer  believes  that  the  group  of  individuals  whose  college 
records  were  secured  may  be  considered  as  fairly  representative  of  the  total  group  at- 
tending college  in  1924-25,  a  group  which  he  estimates  was  from  SO  to  100  per  cent 
larger  or,  in  other  words,  included  from  three  to  four  thousand  persons. 

[18] 


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[19] 


second  or  per  cent  half  of  the  table  shows  that  the  32  graduates  who 
had  I.Q.'s  from  131  to  135  constituted  .3  per  cent  of  the  whole  group. 
with  I.Q.'s  from  126  to  130  were  1.6  per  cent,  and  so  on.  The 
second  column  in  each  part  of  the  table  contains  the  I.Q.  distribution 
of  those  who  planned  to  attend  college,  the  third  that  of  those  known  to 
have  entered  college,  and  the  last  column  the  distribution  of  those  who 
remained  in  college  until  the  end  of  the  freshman  year.  It  can  easily 
be  seen,  especially  by  looking  at  the  per  cents,  that  there  is  a  marked 
tendency  for  each  group  to  have  more  students  with  high  intelligence 
quotients  and  fewer  with  low  quotients  than  do  the  more  inclusive 
groups  which  are  shown  in  the  columns  to  the  left. 

The  condition  just  described  is  perhaps  shown  more  clearly  by 
Figures  1  and  2  which  represent  the  same  data  graphically.  The  first 
of  these  shows  the  actual  numbers  of  cases,  the  second16  the  per  cents. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  broken  line  representing  those  who  planned  to 
attend  college  is  further  to  the  rieht  than  the  solid  line  representing  all 
high-school  graduates  and  that  the  dotted  line  representing  those  known 
to  have  entered  college  is  markedly  further  to  the  right  than  is  the 
broken  line.  Likewise,  in  Figure  1.  the  line  of  mixed  dots  and  dashes 
representing  those  in  college  at  the  end  of  one  year  is  slightly  further 
to  the  right  than  the  dotted  line.  Considering  the  means,  which  are  re- 
spectively 105.  104.  107.  and  107.17  we  may  summarize  the  differences 
by  saying  that  those  who  planned  to  continue  their  education  averaged 
one  point  I.Q.  above  all  high-school  graduates,  that  those  who  were 
known  to  have  entered  college  averaged  three  points  more  than  all 
those  who  planned  to  do  so.  and  that  there  was  very  little  difference  be- 
tween those  who  remained  in  college  for  a  year  and  the  whole  group  of 
entrants.  Were  it  not  for  the  effect  of  Otis'  method  of  computing  I.Q.'s 
in  reducing  those  at  the  higher  levels  the  means  of  the  last  two  groups 
would  undoubtedly  be  at  least  one  or  two  points  higher  and  the  differ- 
ences more  marked.1' 

Probably  the  best  means  of  describing  the  situation,  however,  is  to 
state  the  per  cents  of  individuals  in  each  group  above  and  below  certain 

'This  figure  contains  no  curve  corresponding  to  the  last  column  of  Table  I.    The 

is  that  such  a  curve  would  come  so  close  to  the  one  representing  all  students 

known  to  have  entered  college  that  very  little  difference  could  be  detected  between  the 

i  it  would  therefore  serve  to  confuse  the  figure. 

1TThe  mean  I.Q.  of  those  remaining  in  college  at  the  end  of  one  year  is  slightly 

'han  that  of  all  students  known  to  have  entered  college,  but  the  difference  is  so 

small  that  it  is  not  shown  in  units'  place. 

>ere  not  for  the  other  fact  stated  above,  that  undoubtedly  most  of  the  low 
represent  the  true  degi  ."elligence  of  the  individuals  for  whom  they 

were  computed,  the  true  means  would  be  increased  another  point  or  two. 

[20] 


Number 

Cases 

r2lQQ 


61         7/    II  91         101        III       121       131 

Intelligence  Quotient 


All  high-school  graduates 


Graduates  planning  to  attend  college 

Those  Known  to  have  entered  college 

Those  remaining  at  end  of  one  year 

Figure  1.     Numbers  of  Tuosr  i\   Each  Group  With 
Various  Intelligence   Quotients 


I  21  ] 


4/ 


// 


81         91         tot        m        ill 

Intelligence   Quotient 


•All   high-school  graduates 

■Graduates   planning  to  attend  college 

•Those   known  to  have  entered  college 

Figure  2.   Per  Cents  of  Those  in  Each  Group  With 
Various  Intelligence  Quotients 


points.  Since  the  most  common  plan  of  threefold  classification  of  mental 
ability  is  to  call  all  those  with  I.Q.'s  above  110  superior,  those  with 
I.Q.'s  from  90  to  110  average  or  normal,  and  those  with  I.Q.'s  below 
90  inferior,  this  division  has  been  employed  here.  Twenty-four  per 
cent  of  all  graduates  were  found  to  possess  superior  intelligence  accord- 
ing to  this  criterion  whereas  27  per  cent  of  all  those  who  planned,  to 
attend  college,  37  per  cent  of  those  known  to  have  entered  college,  and 
38  per  cent  of  those  still  in  college  at  the  end  of  one  year  belonged  to 
this  group.  On  the  other  hand,  just  as  there  is  a  marked  increase  in 
these  per  cents  so  there  is  a  decrease  in  the  per  cents  of  those  possessing 
inferior  intelligence,  these  being  respectively  10,  9,  4,  and  4.   The  excess 

[  22  ] 


TABLE   II.— PER    CENTS   OF   INTELLIGENCE  QUOTIENT   GROUPS   OF 

ALL    HIGH-SCHOOL    GRADUATES    FALLING    IN    VARIOUS 

CLASSES  WITH  REGARD  TO  COLLEGE  CAREERS 


Graduates 

Those 

Those 

Intelligence 

planning 

known  to 

remaining 

Quotients 

to  attend 

have  entered 

at  end  of 

college 

college 

one  year 

131-35 

88 

34 

31 

126- 

80 

77 
70 
75 
75 
63 
64 
65 
63 

27 
28 
26 
25 
21 
16 
14 
10 
8 

24 

121- 

26 

116- 

23 

Ill- 

21 

106- 

18 

101- 

14 

96- 

11 

91- 

8 

86- 

7 

81- 

59 

7 

5 

76- 

56 

5 

4 

71- 

51 

6 

6 

66- 

46 

0 

0 

61- 

57 

14* 

14* 

Total 

68 

17 

15 

*These  rather  large  per  cents  are  caused  by  a  single  individual  as 
may  be  seen  by  referring  to  Table  I. 


of  individuals  with  superior  intelligence  over  those  with  inferior  intelli- 
gence is  thus  seen  to  be  14,  18,  33,  and  34  per  cent,  in  the  same  order 
previously  used.  If  the  true  I.Q.'s  were  available  all  these  per  cents 
would  undoubtedly  be  increased,  each  slightly  more  than  the  one  pre- 
ceding it.  The  figures  as  well  as  the  means  indicate  that  the  most 
marked  selection  occurs  in  the  group  of  those  who  actually  attend  col- 
lege. Those  who  plan  to  do  so  are  only  slightly  more  intelligent  than 
the  whole  group  of  high-school  graduates  and  those  who  remain  in  col- 
lege at  the  end  of  one  year  differ  still  less  from  the  whole  group  of  those 
entering  college.19  The  difference  between  those  who  actually  entered 
college  and  all  high-school  graduates  or  even  all  who  planned  to  go  to 
college  is  so  marked,  however,  as  seemingly  to  leave  no  doubt  that  there 
was  very  definite  selection. 

Another  method  of  bringing  out  the  same  facts  is  shown  in  Table 
II.  This  gives  by  intelligence  quotient  groups  the  per  cents  of  all  grad- 
uates who  planned  to  attend  college,  who  were  known  to  have  entered 


"It  is  probable  that  if  those  who  returned  to  college  at  the  beginning  of  their  sec- 
ond year  were  compared  with  all  those  who  entered  a  greater  difference  would  be  shown. 
Many  of  those  still  in  college  at  the  end  of  the  year  had  such  low  marks  that  it  seemed 
evident  they  would  be  dropped.  On  the  whole  these  were  students  of  lower  I.Q.'s  than 
the  average. 


[23] 


college,  and  who  remained  at  the  end  of  one  year.  Taking  the  first  row 
of  the  table,  for  example,  88  per  cent  of  all  seniors  with  intelligence  quo- 
tients from  131  to  135,  inclusive,  planned  to  attend  college,  34  per  cent 
are  known  to  have  done  so  and  3 1  per  cent  were  still  in  college  at  the 
end  of  one  year.  In  each  column  there  is  a  marked  though  not  regular 
tendency  for  the  entries  to  decrease  toward  the  bottom,  that  is,  for  the 
per  cents  of  individuals  of  high  intelligence  to  be  greater  than  the  per 
cents  of  those  of  low  intelligence.  Furthermore,  the  decrease  is  rela- 
tively greater  in  the  case  of  those  known  to  have  entered  college  than 
for  those  who  planned  to  do  so  and  still  slightly  greater  for  those  who 
remained  throughout  the  year.  Although  only  17  per  cent  of  all  grad- 
uates are  known  to  have  entered  college,  34  per  cent  of  those  in  the 
highest  I.Q.  group,  27  per  cent  of  those  in  the  next,  28  per  cent  in  the 
next,  and  so  on,  did  so  as  compared  with  per  cents  of  from  zero  to  14 
near  the  bottom  of  the  column.  Again  in  this  case  the  differences  would 
be  somewhat  greater  if  the  higher  I.Q.'s  were  not  too  low. 

The  high-school  averages  of  the  different  groups  in  respect  to 
college  careers.  Since  the  evidence  offered  by  the  high-school  averages 
is  so  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the  intelligence  quotients  the  discussion 
thereof  will  be  much  briefer.  Tables  III  and  IV  and  also  Figures  3  and 
4  present  the  high-school  averages  for  the  same  groups  and  in  the  same 
manner  as  did  Tables  I  and  II  and  Figures  1  and  2  the  intelligence  quo- 
tients. From  Table  III  or  Figure  3  it  can  be  seen  that  the  mean  high- 
school  average  for  all  graduates  was  82.9,  the  mean  for  those  who  in- 
tended to  go  to  college  83.3,  for  those  who  actually  entered  college  84.6, 
and  for  those  remaining  at  the  end  of  the  year  84.8.  Likewise,  the  sec- 
ond half  of  Table  III  and  Figure  4  show  a  definite  tendency  for  the  per 
cents  of  those  with  high  averages  to  increase  and  of  those  with  low  av- 
erages to  decrease  from  each  group  to  the  next  more  limited  group.  The 
points  dividing  averages  into  high,  medium,  and  low  were  taken  as  90 
and  80  per  cent.  On  this  basis  there  were  in  the  whole  group  of  grad- 
uates 16  per  cent  more  with  low  than  with  high  averages,  whereas 
among  those  who  planned  to  go  to  college  the  difference  was  12.  among 
those  who  actually  entered  college  it  was  only  1.  and  among  those  who 
remained  until  the  end  of  the  freshman  year  the  per  cent  of  high  aver- 
ages was  4  greater  than  that  of  low  ones.  Table  IV7  offers  similar  evi- 
dence by  showing  in  each  column  a  greater  downward  decrease  in  the 
per  cents  than  is  found  in  the  column  preceding  it.  In  all  these  cases 
it  will  be  noticed  that  the  differences  between  all  graduates  and  those 
who  planned  to  attend  college  were  not  very  great,  those  between  the 


[24] 


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[25] 


TABLE  IV.— PER  CENTS  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  AVERAGES  OF  ALL  HIGH- 
SCHOOL   GRADUATES   FALLING    IN    VARIOUS   CLASSES    WITH 
REGARD  TO  COLLEGE  CAREERS 


Graduates 

Those 

Those 

High-school 

planning 

known  to 

remaining 

average 

to  attend 

have  entered 

at  end  of 

college 

college 

one  year 

98-99 

75 

25 

25 

96-97 

83 

43 

39 

94-95 

84 

34 

32 

92-93 

84 

35 

32 

90-91 

73 

23 

21 

88-89 

73 

23 

21 

86-87 

73 

22 

20 

84-85 

68 

17 

15 

82-83 

67 

16 

14 

80-81 

64 

13 

10 

78-79 

64 

13 

10 

76-77 

63 

11 

8 

74-75 

62 

10 

8 

72-73 

53 

9 

7 

70-71 

54 

7 

5 

Total 

68 

17 

15 

latter  group  and  those  who  actually  entered  college  several  times  as 
large,  and  finally  those  between  the  college  entrants  and  those  who  re- 
mained a  year  rather  slight.  This  parallels  very  closely  what  was  shown 
by  the  intelligence  quotients. 

Summary  and  conclusion.  The  data  presented  in  this  chapter  may 
be  summarized  briefly  as  follows.  The  study  made  in  Indiana  shows 
that  very  slight  if  any  selection  was  taking  place  among  those  who 
planned  to  attend  college  as  compared  with  all  high-school  seniors, 
whereas  the  North  Carolina  and  Massachusetts  investigations  show 
greater  differences,  large  enough  that  there  is  no  doubt  of  their  being 
reliable.  The  results  obtained  in  Illinois  indicate  that  the  group  already 
mentioned  was  only  slightly  selected,  that  there  was  considerably  more 
marked  selection  of  those  who  actually  entered  college  and  a  still  further 
though  relatively  small  selection  of  those  who  remained  until  the  end  of 
the  freshman  year.  On  the  other  hand,  even  with  the  amount  of  se- 
lection indicated  it  appears  that  a  fairly  large  fraction  of  the  ablest 
high-school  seniors  are  not  attending  college  and  also  that  some  individ- 
uals of  inferior  ability  are  doing  so. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  the  proponents  of  both  sides  of  the  contro- 
versy may  base  a  portion  of  their  arguments  upon  the  results  obtained. 
There  appears  to  be  no  doubt  that  students  who  enter  college  are  defi- 


[26] 


Number 

Cases 

t/?00 


jo  so  go 

High-School  Average 
All  high-school   graduates 


100 


Graduates  planning  to  attend  college 

Those  known  to  have  entered  college 

Those  remaining  at  end  of  one  year 

Figure  3.     Numbers  of  Those  in  Each  Group  With 
Various  High-School  Averages 


[27] 


so  go 

High-School  Average 
■  All  high-school  graduates 


100 


Graduates  planning  to  attend,  college 

Those  known,  to  have  entered  college 

Figure  4.    Per  Cents  of  Those  in  Each  Group  With 
Various  High-School  Averages 


[28] 


nitely  above  the  average  of  high-school  seniors  in  mental  ability  or,  in 
other  words,  that  some  selection  is  taking  place.  The  degree  of  selec- 
tion may  be  summarized  by  saying  that  the  difference  in  mean  I.Q.'s 
is  probably  five  or  six  points,  and  that  in  mean  high-school  averages 
about  2  per  cent,  or  that  the  excess  of  superior  over  inferior  students  is 
at  least  25  "per  cent  (of  the  whole)  greater  among  college  entrants  than 
among  all  high-school  graduates.  On  the  other  hand,  the  amount  of  se- 
lection occurring  is  not  great  enough  that  it  can  be  said  that  inferior 
students  do  not  enter  college  in  relatively  large  numbers.  As  was 
pointed  out  in  the  beginning,  no  conclusion  can  be  reached  from  this 
evidence  as  to  how  college  students  of  today  compare  in  intellectual 
ability  with  those  of  a  generation  or  more  ago,  except  perhaps  that  they 
certainly  are  not  as  inferior  as  some  persons  have  claimed. 


[29] 


CHAPTER  III 

DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  THE  GROUPS  OF  FRESHMEN 

ATTENDING  VARIOUS  INSTITUTIONS  OF 

HIGHER  LEARNING 

The  grouping  of  the  institutions  of  higher  learning.  For  the  pur- 
poses of  this  chapter  all  except  three  of  the  120  institutions  of  higher 
learning  which  contributed  the  records  of  their  freshmen  were  classed 
in  several  groups.  The  data  for  each  of  the  three  outstanding  univer- 
sities in  the  state  of  Illinois — Illinois,  Chicago,  and  Northwestern — 
were  tabulated  separately.  All  the  others  were  thrown  into  seven 
groups  according  to  the  types  of  institutions  and  their  location.  The 
first  of  these  groups  consisted  of  large  universities  outside  of  the  state, 
the  ones  included  being  Columbia,  Cornell,  Harvard,  Iowa,  Pennsyl- 
vania. Michigan,  and  Wisconsin.  In  the  second  were  placed  all  colleges 
and  small  universities  located  within  the  state,  and  also  a  few,  such  as 
Beloit  at  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  and  Washington  at  St.  Louis,  so  near  that 
students  graduated  from  certain  high  schools  in  Illinois  live  nearer  to 
them  than  to  any  college  in  the  state.  All  other  liberal  arts  colleges  and 
small  universities  were  placed  in  the  third  group.  The  five  Illinois 
state  teachers'  colleges  composed  another  group  and  all  other  teachers' 
colleges  and  normal  schools,  whether  within  or  without  the  state,  an- 
other. Institutions  of  the  type  of  Armour,  Bradley,  Carnegie,  Purdue, 
and  so  on,  were  grouped  together  as  technical  schools.  Such  schools  or 
colleges  within  universities  were  not  included  here,  but  were  included 
with  the  universities  of  which  they  are  .parts.  Finally,  the  last  group 
contains  all  the  others,  that  is,  professional,  business,  art,  and  music 
schools.  Likewise  here,  departments  of  institutions  not  primarily  exist- 
ing for  these  purposes  were  not  included. 

For  other  purposes  the  number  of  groups  was  still  further  reduced, 
only  four  being  used  and  the  last  or  miscellaneous  group  neglected. 
These  four  were:  (1)  the  University  of  Illinois,  (2)  Chicago,  North- 
western, large  universities  outside  of  the  state,  and  technical  schools, 
(3)  liberal  arts  colleges  and  small  universities  regardless  of  location, 
and  (4)  all  teachers'  colleges  and  normal  schools. 

Numbers  of  students  attending  each  group  of  institutions.  It  will 
be  seen  from  Table  V  that  slightly  over  one-fourth  of  the  freshmen  in- 
cluded in  this  study  attended  the  University  of  Illinois  and  about  one- 

[30] 


TABLE  V.— NUMBERS,  PER  CENTS,  AND  MEANS  OF  FRESHMEN 

ENTERING  DIFFERENT  INSTITUTIONS  OF 

HIGHER  LEARNING 


Institution  or  Group 

Number 

Per 
cent 

Mean* 

Age 

Mean 
Point 
Score 

Mean 
I.Q. 

Mean 

H.  S. 

Average 

520 
79 
56 
50 

747 
98 

251 

35 
78 

57 

26.4 
4.0 

2.8 
2.5 

37.9 
5.0 

12.7 

1.8 
4.0 

2.9 

18.4 
17.9 
18.3 
18.1 
18.3 
18.3 
18.4 

18.6 
18.7 

18.6 

49.5 
50.8 
46.7 
52.1 
48.6 
49.6 
44.4 

45.9 
50.9 

44.9 

108 
110 
105 
111 
107 
108 
103 

104 
109 

103 

84  6 

84  9 

Northwestern  University 

Large  Universities  not  in  Illinois. 
Colleges  in  and  very  near  Illinois . 

Illinois  State  Teachers'  Colleges  . 
Other    Teachers'  Colleges    and 

Normal  Schools 

Technical  Schools 

Professional,  Business,  Art,  and 

Music  Schools 

83.4 
83.4 
85.2 
85.0 
84.3 

81.3 
83.6 

84.0 

Total 

1971 

100.0 

18.4 

48.5 

107 

84.6 

*The  mean  ages  given  in  this  table  are  those  at  the  approximate  time  of  entering  college. 


eighth  the  Illinois  state  teachers'  colleges.  Combining  these  gives  al- 
most two-fifths  who  attended  institutions  supported  by  the  state  in 
which  they  lived.  Chicago  and  Northwestern  drew  only  a  few,  3  or  4 
per  cent  in  each  case,  as  was  likewise  true  of  the  whole  group  of  uni- 
versities outside  of  the  state.  Well  over  one-third  of  the  whole  num- 
ber attended  colleges  or  small  universities  within  or  very  near  the  state 
and  only  about  one  in  twenty  colleges  not  so  located.  The  other  three 
groups  were  all  small.  Making  comparisons  according  to  types  of 
schools  we  see  that  more  than  one-third  attended  some  large  university, 
more  than  two-fifths  colleges  or  small  universities,  and  more  than  one- 
seventh  teachers'  colleges.  From  the  standpoint  of  location  approxi- 
mately seven-eighths  of  the  freshmen  attended  institutions  within  the 
state. 

The  mean  ages  of  the  different  groups.  The  mean  ages  found  in 
the  third  column  of  Table  V  show  that  on  the  average  the  freshmen  at- 
tending the  University  of  Chicago  were  the  youngest,  their  mean  being 
17.9  years.  The  next  youngest  group,  which  had  a  mean  of  18.1,  was 
that  attending  large  universities  outside  of  the  state.  The  three  groups 
with  ages  definitely  above  the  average  are  the  last  three  in  the  table, 
those  attending  teachers'  colleges  and  normal  schools  not  supported  by 
the  state  of  Illinois,  technical  schools,  and  the  miscellaneous  group.  For 
the  University  of  Illinois,  Northwestern  University,  both  groups  of  col- 
leges, and  the  Illinois  state  teachers'  colleges  mean  ages  were  very  close 
to  the  general  mean. 

[31] 


The  mean  point  scores  of  the  different  groups.  The  point  scores 
of  the  different  groups  indicate  that  the  freshmen  in  the  large  univer- 
sities outside  of  Illinois  were  of  the  highest  intellectual  ability,  those  in 
the  University  of  Chicago  and  in  technical  schools  next,  and  those  in 
the  University  of  Illinois  and  in  colleges  outside  of  the  state  slightly 
above  the  general  mean.  The  lowest  mean  point  score  belonged  to 
those  attending  Illinois  state  teachers'  colleges  and  the  next  lowest  to  the 
miscellaneous  group.  Others  definitely  below  the  general  average  were' 
those  for  Northwestern  University  and  for  other  teachers'  colleges. 
The  only  group  practically  at  the  average  for  all  was  that  attending  col- 
leges in  or  very  near  the  state. 

The  mean  intelligence  quotients  of  the  different  groups.  As  is 
practically  always  the  case  when  dealing  with  numbers  of  individuals 
the  mean  I.Q.'s  show  about  the  same  conditions  relative  to  intelligence 
as  do  the  mean  point  scores.  The  freshmen  attending  large  universities 
outside  of  the  state,  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  the  technical  schools 
were  again  distinctly  above  the  average  and  those  in  both  groups  of 
teachers'  colleges,  professional,  business,  art  and  music  schools,  and 
Xorthwestern  University  below  it. 

The  mean  high-school  averages  of  the  different  groups.  The  evi- 
dence of  the  high-school  averages  as  to  the  intellectual  ability  of  the 
different  groups  does  not  agree  closely  with  that  of  the  point  scores  and 
I.  Q.'s.  Xone  of  the  mean  averages  are  very  markedly  above  the  gen- 
eral mean,  but  that  of  one  small  group,  those  attending  other  teachers' 
colleges  and  normal  schools,  is  decidedly  below  it  and  those  of  fresh- 
men at  Xorthwestern  University  and  the  large  universities  outside  of 
the  state  also  are  more  than  one  point  below.  It  will  be  seen  that  this 
evidence  directly  conflicts  with  that  of  the  Otis  Test  for  large  universi- 
ties outside  of  the  state  and  that  in  the  case  of  about  half  of  the  other 
groups  does  not  agree  at  all  closely  with  it.  This  fact  is  in  accord  with 
rather  general  findings  that  school  marks  do  not  correlate  highly  with 
intelligence  tests  results. 

Distributions  of  intelligence  quotients  for  the  four  large  groups. 
Tables  VI  and  VII  present  the  detailed  distributions  of  intelligence 
quotients,  the  former  by  actual  numbers  and  the  latter  by  per  cents,  for 
the  four  groups  of  institutions  used  in  the  second  plan  of  grouping  de- 
scribed near  the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  For  each  institution  and 
also  for  all  institutions  the  figures  are  given  for  all  those  included  in  this 
study  who  entered  college  and  for  those  who  remained  at  the  end  of 
their  freshman  vear.     The  first  three  columns  of  each  table  merelv  re- 


[52] 


"g    en 

8  "3 

H^ 

Those 
Remain- 
ing 

CNxrl  +  r^-r',  wit,  3nvOC-CC 
cs  cn  co  w-,  Tf  cn  — ■> 

CN 

CN 

co 

O 

CO 
CM 

o\ 

Those 
Enter- 
ing 

CN  CN  "tf"  sC ■  "~.  co  CN 

co 
oo 
CN 

CO 

O 

CN 
CN 

oo 

Colleges 

Those 
Remain- 
ing 

—  C>COMN- isO^O  —  O  O  ^f  —  C:  O 

o 

CO 

r^ 

o 

ON 
CO 

■* 

Those 
Enter- 
ing 

co 

oo 

o 

oo 

CO 

■* 

Other  Large 

Universities 

and    Technical 

Schools 

Those 
Remain- 
ing 

-  n  't  ui  fi  tN 

-r 
cn 

o 

CO 

~ 

t^OVOOWPTttNOOcotOr- <  O  ©  © 

—  tN  *  \0  ■*  n -h 

00 

in 

o 

5- 

CN 

University 
of"  Illinois 

Those 
Remain- 
ing 

CN 

o 

■* 

■* 

CN 

Those 
Enter- 
ing 

o 

oo 
O 

CN 

oo 
CO 

CN 

u  c 

js  2 

Those 
Remain- 
ing 

-r-tNrotNri- 

SO 

o 

■* 

Those 
Enter- 
ing 

--enr,  -xn^-ct^ryO« 
^-uo  —  —  rN  x  r;  h-  r,  va  M 

0\ 

O 

CO 

-*1 

All 
High- 
School 
Gradu- 
ates 

nx  —  tN  —  x  —  tNx<!iriinui^ 

CO 

co 

o 

CN 

O 

cy 

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u 

> 
o 

ca 

c 
u 
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1) 

0- 

o 
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O 

H 

c 
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u 

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i     I     i     :     i     I     I     I     I     1     1     1     1     I     i 

~-  \C  •— '  sC^^O'— •  ^O  —  \C  ~—  ^C^-  vO  r-H 

n  n  n  -  —  oo^o\x«r^r^vo>o 

a, 

[33] 


o 

z 

2 
w 

H 
Z 

w 
^Z 

oE 
go 

J< 
►J 


w 


as 
^< 

5;* 

°z 

2g 

HE 

PZ 

He/) 
ZO 
WI 
OH 

*Q 

£* 
i  < 


HO 

Those 
Remain- 
ing 

©CCO-^CsrOCTWOCiO^O-'J-OO 

o 

d 

o 

C5 

Sum 

U     4J      — 

-C  c.S 

Hw 

ONN^MOi'^'HO'-iooO'tOO 

o 

d 

o 

oo 

jj 

60 

~o 
O 

I'll 

H  « 
OS 

-H\000O0\'HOO0\^'tui-iOO 
n  ^o  n  t-~  OM^  (O  \o  M  -h 

o 

o 
o 

"* 

u  J. 

g    U    60 

2  *■'  e 

riovont^-MrHnn-i't^-'OO 

o 

o 
© 

oo 

■* 

Other  Large 

Universities 

and    Technical 

Schools 

1)    C 

g'«  M 

-<=  £.£ 
H  <u 

nooi<tot^r--xNO\o\ooocc 

o 

o 
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rt    ,-H    <N    — 1    — 1 

g    <U    60 

-c  c.S 

l^w-iOOt^-oocjsOOr-^-^OOO 

M  n  N  O  \0  *  \0 -n  ro-i  ^ 

_  _  ri  — i  — > 

o 

o 
o 

5 

cs 

11 

_>   — 

P  o 

oj    G 

-g  £.2 

H  «■> 

PS 

o 

o 

o 

CN 

g    <U    60 

o 

o 

o 

CN 

-c.2 

60  *^ 
ffi.t! 

u  c 

g'S    60 

H    OJ 

PS 

sor^c^vDOI^f-O^OO  — i-ttSO- 1 

o 

o 
o 

OO 

to 

■* 

(S\o^r^a>Nn\on" 

g    <U    60 

Hw 

\o\ooav*\o*ooi-Hn'trJO'H 

o 

o 

o 

1^ 

CO 

"* 

nvoo^o^rs-jifso-n 

— ^1 

3    „ 
13    S 

i-    as 

0 

r)vo\on\ooo\ooNco^-tui(NiH 

o 

d 

o 

O 

a 

o 
H 

o 

> 

o 
.n 

e 

OJ 
CJ 
tH 

aj 

Cm 

d 

On 
•S 

_o 
<u 
-O 

C 
u 
u 

ID 

Ch 

1     1     1     1     1     1     l     l     1     l     1     l     1     1     1 

i — i^O' — i  so  i— i  \o  ' — isO' — i  so  ^*  so  « — i  SO' — ! 
(^riN  —  —  OOCT\0\»ooM^sC>0 

[34] 


peat  some  of  the  data  given  in  Tables  I  and  II  so  that  they  will  be  con- 
venient for  purposes  of  comparison  with  the  four  sets  of  double  col- 
umns for  the  different  groups.  Comparing  the  first  and  second  of  each 
of  these  pairs  of  columns  we  see  that  in  the  cases  of  the  University  of 
Illinois  and  of  other  large  universities  and  technical  schools  more  selec- 
tion took  place  during  the  freshman  year  than  was  true  of  the  other 
two  groups.  In  the  case  of  each  of  the  former  the  mean  I.Q.  of  those 
remaining  at  the  end  of  the  year  was  one  greater  than  of  those  who 
entered  and  the  excess  of  those  of  superior  over  those  of  inferior  intel- 
ligence 2  and  3  per  cent  greater  respectively,  whereas  in  the  cases  of  the 
groups  of  liberal  arts  colleges  and  of  teachers'  colleges  the  means  were 
no  greater  and  the  excess  of  superior  over  inferior  students  one  and 
zero.  This  fact  indicates  that,  on  the  whole,  those  institutions,  such  as 
the  University  of  Illinois  and  the  other  large  universities  and  technical 
schools,  which  exercise  a  greater  degree  of  selection  in  choosing  their 
freshmen  from  high-school  graduates  continue  the  same  policy  within 
the  institutions  themselves,  whereas  those  who  exercise  a  smaller  degree 
of  selection  likewise  continue  this  policy.  Undoubtedly  individual  insti- 
tutions constitute  exceptions  to  this  rule.  Some  probably  believe  that 
they  have  selected  candidates  for  admission  rigorously  enough  that  they 
can  well  afford  to  grade  rather  leniently  and  strive  to  have  little  elim- 
ination, whereas  others  are  undoubtedly  conscious  that  they  have  done 
little  if  anything  to  select  those  who  enter  and  plan  to  weed  out  many 
of  those  of  inferior  ability  early  in  their  college  careers. 

Reasons  for  the  differences  in  freshmen  attending  the  different 
groups  of  higher  institutions.  With  possibly  one  exception  it  is  rather 
easy  to  suggest  explanations  for  the  superiority  of  the  freshmen  attend- 
ing certain  groups  of  institutions  and  the  inferiority  of  those  at  others. 
In  general  large  universities  and  technical  schools  have  somewhat  more 
severe  entrance  requirements  and  enjoy  the  reputation  of  requiring 
higher  standards  of  work  from  their  students  than  do  liberal  arts  and 
teachers'  colleges  and  therefore  it  is  to  be  expected  that  freshmen  enter- 
ing such  institutions  would,  as  a  group,  have  more  than  average  ability. 
The  one  exception  referred  to  above  is  the  case  of  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity, one  of  the  group  just  mentioned.  Two  possible  explanations  of 
the  low  means  of  the  group  entering  that  institution  may  be  suggested. 
One  is  that  the  number  of  cases  concerned  is  too  small  to  yield  a  reli- 
able measure  and  the  second  that  the  Northwestern  freshmen  included 
may  represent  a  group  of  students  who  live  rather  close  to  that  insti- 
tution and  who  have  entered  it  merely  because  it  offers  the  most  con- 


[35] 


venient  opportunity  for  securing  further  education  and  not  because  they 
have  definite  vocational  or  other  purposes.  The  apparently  inferior  in- 
telligence of  those  entering  teachers'  colleges  is  in  accord  with  several 
reported  results  of  the  use  of  intelligence  tests  in  different  institutions. 
Most  of  those  who  enter  teachers'  colleges  are  probably  planning  to  take 
only  one  or  two  years  of  work  and  it  is  likely  that  on  the  whole  students 
with  such  intentions  are  less  able  than  those  who  plan  to  carry  four- 
year  courses.  Also  the  fact  that  the  group  entering  business,  art,  and 
music  schools  ranks  somewhat  below  the  average  agrees  rather  well  with 
general  observation  and  common  opinion,  and  the  number  of  those 
entering  professional  schools  included  is  so  small  as  not  to  produce 
much  effect  upon  the  means  for  this  whole  group.  Since  more  fresh- 
men were  found  in  liberal  arts  schools  and  smaller  universities  than  in 
any  other  of  the  groups  it  is  not  surprising  that  their  means  should  be 
very  close  to  those  of  the  whole  number  of  freshmen. 


135  J 


CHAPTER  IV 

DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  THE  GROUPS  OF  FRESHMEN 
CARRYING  VARIOUS  SUBJECTS 

The  data  to  be  presented  in  this  chapter.  Although  the  topic  of 
this  chapter  is  not  an  integral  part  of  the  main  problem  treated  in  this 
bulletin  the  data  and  discussion  which  follow  are  presented  because 
they  may  be  of  interest  to  some  readers.  The  forty-nine  subjects20 
carried  by  ten  or  more  freshmen  are  listed  in  Table  VIII.  Following 
each  subject  may  be  found  the  number  of  students  carrying  that  sub- 
ject, the  per  cent  that  this  number  is  of  the  total  number  whose  fresh- 
man marks  are  included,  the  mean  age,  point  score,  I.Q.,  high-school 
average,  freshman  mark  in  the  given  subject,  and  freshman  average  of 
the  group.  According  to  the  first  line  of  the  table,  which  gives  these 
data  for  the  whole  group,  1892  freshmen  remained  in  school  long 
enough  to  receive  at  least  some  marks,  so  this  number  is  taken  as  the 
base  or  100  per  cent.  Their  mean  age  at  entrance  was  18.3,  mean  point 
score  48.5,  mean  I.Q.  107,  mean  high-school  average  84.6,  mean  fresh- 
man subject  mark  82.5,  and  mean  freshman  average,  of  course,  the 
same,  82.5. 

Numbers  of  freshmen  carrying  different  subjects.  Glancing  at  the 
first  two  columns  one  may  discover  the  not  unexpected  fact  that  more 
freshmen  carried  rhetoric  than  any  other  subject  and  that  the  second 
largest  number  took  physical  education,  the  per  cents  being  about  85 
and  70,  respectively.  No  other  subject  was  carried  by  more  than  half 
of  the  whole  group.  Chemistry  and  history  were  carried  by  more  than 
one-third  of  the  group,  and  algebra  and  hygiene  by  more  than  one- 
fourth.  At  the  other  extreme  are  to  be  found  dentistry  and  Italian 
with  less  than  1  per  cent  in  each,  athletic  coaching,  Greek,  and  horticul- 
ture with  approximately  1  per  cent  apiece,  and  agriculture,  clothing, 
engineering,  general  home  economics,  pharmacy,  philosophy,  physics, 
sociology,  and  stenography  and  typing  with  less  than  fifty  freshmen,  or 
2y2  per  cent,  in  each. 

The  mean  ages  of  the  different  groups.  In  general  the  differences 
in  the  mean  ages  of  the  freshmen  carrying  the  different  subjects  were 

20In  some  cases  what  is  treated  as  a  subject  really  embraces  a  group  of  closely  re- 
lated subjects.  For  example,  all  agricultural  subjects  other  than  horticulture  are  grouped 
as  agriculture,  and  all  courses  in  freehand  drawing,  painting,  designing,  and  so  forth,  are 
grouped  as  art. 

[37] 


w 

to 
to 

to 
O 

CO 

to 

D 

O 

OS 

oH 

toU 

ow 

^to 
cd  to 

£3 

to 
o 

OS 

w 

to 

to 

to 

s 


«  t  5 
to< 


U     fl     u 

S3*"! 

to^^ 


< 


C      4-1      U 

ns    C    i- 
2  tocn 


'^nnM^Mxo-nr-'tO't^1''!-  oc  -+■  <n  —  —  or^-ooN-f 


uiI^OvC*^' 


OMvOM-*,-t"XMt^w1rf(SM*^0'*'H'th. 


vocnNoriMi^'-'i^^r'iM'flri 


ifloorovOOOrlxuiOMK 


"^^•lu^voc^l^o^^o^■c^l^co^'HC^fO\0"^^^xvD»^'^o-t, 


ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 


0-frir'r\Oai-i\0(Srf|'i^i0^woo«r^oo\onoooo 


O  oo  r)  (J\  oo  vo  >h  O  O  Is  t^  N  >C 


0\un>w\ONMOO\nO'),nHTtioi,'-'0-Hr~Orl'H1iit*) 


£%£ 


0  be." 


U 


5>a  g-c  -^  n 

s  g  3.5  g  S3  fco  E  g 


to 


—^    O    oAJ— —    to    J-.    *-<.—  .«    u  -J-i  ^z,    <j>    vs    u    \J    i->    t-,    v    v    <u    <u    <u    u,  •  ~    u 

<<<«<<«MPQUUUQKWWfcOUOOOOXI 
[38] 


•t  ^  vO  rl  3>  M  -  w  ; 


X  "•(  n  X  ?T)  O  f.  ^i  >fl  "1  N  +  M 


Orixor^-"HU\l'iri-fvO'tON^MC>-'voi^ci'i-'vD 


2  =  ^ 
< 


n  x  m  o\  vo  r^  "■/  —  o^.  n  o  rt  o  r^  n  "■>  ?>  n  «  r~  o\  o  c  ••■ 


;  o  s 


O  C=  — norioivoxnwnovB- <rooo(Nor^t^nc>c)(N 


oooooor~-r^ooooocoooo3vooooooooocooooooooocoooooo 


h[ —  rfir,  0\5\-t^^O^\0vCt\C^it^W>^nO't0" 


onuiOOto>^n|^rH''Hvci'i'tis-X'txrTt>o\o-t 
m  — i       ri  c-;       —  n       —       cs  r-4  <-o       t^j       -t-  — I 


2  s 

5  « 


■S  xi 


»i    2    ni 


_o  —  _2c/3. 

o<JOcj2on-2«b'ocO< 

=  >,>,>,-  ^  «  ■-  =  cm- 

^  m' c  £  re. -■_.«_!  —  !— .-^-e-e-C-c  o  «  3*  o  o-i:,1-  o 


J3    U"    3 


[39] 


not  great.  Athletic  coaching  and  pharmacy  alone  had  means  above  19 
years  and  Italian  and  Latin  are  the  only  two  whose  means  fell  below 
18.  Of  these  four  Latin  alone  had  enough  cases  that  the  mean  can  be 
considered  reliable  to  the  nearest  month  or  two. 

The  mean  point  scores  and  I.Q.'s  of  the  different  groups.  The 
point  score  and  I.Q.  columns  show  somewhat  greater  variability  than 
the  one  for  age.  Students  carrying  freshman  geometry  and  philosophy 
tied  for  the  highest  point  score,  52.6,  and  likewise  had  mean  I.Q.'s  of 
111,  as  high  as  any.  Although  the  mean  point  score  for  those  carrying 
Latin  was  somewhat  lower,  their  low  age  resulted  in  a  mean  I.Q.  of 
111  also.  Other  subjects  which  had  groups  of  students  distinctly  above 
the  average  are  algebra,  chemistry,  engineering,  French,  general  mathe- 
matics, Italian,  mechanical  drawing,  military,  and  trigonometry.  The 
one  distinctly  below  all  others,  as  measured  by  both  point  scores  and. 
I.Q.'s,  was  dentistry,  but  as  there  were  only  twelve  students  therein,  the 
figures  probably  have  little  significance.  Other  relatively  low  groups 
were  those  in  arithmetic,  art,  athletic  coaching,  biology,  clothing,  com- 
mercial work,  education,  geography,  home  economics,  horticulture,  mu- 
sic theory,  pharmacy,  physiology,  and  psychology. 

The  mean  high-school  averages  of  the  different  groups.  The  sixth 
column  contains  the  mean  high-school  averages,  which  vary  from  80.2 
for  the  small  dentistry  group  and  81.3  for  the  only  slightly  larger  group 
in  pharmacy  up  to  87.6  for  those  carrying  freshman  Latin.  Other 
groups  than  the  Latin  one  with  relatively  high  averages  were  those  in 
French,  Italian,  stenography  and  typing,  and  zoology,  whereas  home 
economics  and  physics  were  markedly  low.  Comparing  the  high-school 
averages  with  the  point  scores  and  I.Q.'s,  it  is  apparent  that  in  some  cases 
the  different  evidence  as  to  the  intellectual  ability  of  the  group  of  stu- 
dents carrying  a  particular  subject  agrees,  whereas  in  other  cases  it 
does  not.  Thus  the  Latin  group,  which  had  as  high  an  I.Q.  as  any  and 
also  a  rather  high  point  score  had  the  highest  average,  but  the  fresh- 
men carrying  geometry  and  philosophy,  who  had  the  highest  point 
scores  and  as  high  I.Q.'s  as  any,  had  high-school  averages  only  some- 
what above  the  general  mean.  Of  the  fifteen  groups  referred  to  in  the 
last  paragraph  as  being  low  according  to  test  results  all  except  two  had 
mean  high-school  averages  below  the  general  mean,  but  several  of  the 
groups  with  low  high-school  averages  were  not  below  the  average  in 
point  scores  and  I.Q.'s. 

The  mean  freshman  marks  in  the  different  subjects.  The  next  to 
the  last  column  shows  decidedly  greater  variations  in  the  mean  marks 


[40] 


in  the  different  freshman  subjects  than  were  found  in  the  high-school 
averages.  The  lowest  mean  freshman  mark,  77.4,  was  given  in  phar- 
macy, whereas  the  highest,  88.9,  was  in  military  work.  Other  subjects 
having  means  below  80  were  accountancy,  geography,  and  physiology, 
whereas  those  of  engineering,  Italian,  music  performance,  and  physical 
education  were  above  85.  It  can  readily  be  seen  by  glancing  down  the 
column  of  mean  freshmen  subject  marks  and  comparing  the  entries 
therein  with  those  in  the  previous  columns  that  there  is  positive,  but  not 
nearly  perfect,  correlation.  For  example,  the  military  group  received 
the  highest  freshman  mark,  but  had  a  high-school  average  below  the 
general  mean.  On  the  other  hand  it  was  well  above  the  means  in  both 
point  scores  and  I.Q.'s.  Of  the  other  four  subject  groups  in  which  the 
freshmen  subject  means  were  above  85,  three  had  high-school  averages 
above  and  one  below  the  general  mean.  Two  of  the  four  were  decid- 
edly high  according  to  the  test  results  and  two  very  close  to  the  mean. 
Of  the  four  named  as  having  freshman  subject  marks  below  80,  all  had 
high-school  averages  lower  than  the  general  mean  and  three  were  below 
the  mean  in  their  point  scores  and  I.Q.'s. 

The  mean  freshmen  averages  of  the  different  groups.  The  last 
column  of  Table  VIII  contains  the  mean  freshmen  averages  of  the  stu- 
dents carrying  each  subject.  The  groups  which  made  averages  above 
85  were  those  carrying  dentistry,  French,  Italian,  and  Latin,  whereas 
the  only  one  with  an  average  below  80  was  pharmacy.  Others  below 
81  were  accountancy,  arithmetic,  athletic  coaching,  economics,  engineer- 
ing, physiology,  and  zoology.  As  was  the  case  with  the  mean  freshmen 
subject  mark  so  in  this  case  there  is  not  a  high  degree  of  agreement  with 
the  other  measures  given  in  the  table.  Three  of  the  four  groups  earn- 
ing high  averages  were  also  high  on  the  test  scores  and  high-school 
averages.  All  of  them  were  above  the  average  in  their  freshman  sub- 
ject marks,  but  only  one  very  much  so.  The  one  group  which  had  a 
mean  freshman  average  below  80  was  likewise  low  in  all  the  other 
measures  except  age,  in  which  it  was  very  high,  but  of  those  having 
freshman  averages  between  80  and  81  some  were  high  in  each  of  the 
preceding  measures  though  most  were  below  the  average. 

The  agreement  between  the  various  data  concerning  groups  of 
freshmen.  In  the  last  few  paragraphs  various  comments  have  been 
made  to  the  general  effect  that  the  correlation  between  mean  ages,  point 
scores  or  I.Q.'s,  high-school  averages,  freshmen  subject  marks,  and 
freshmen  averages  was  not  very  high  although  there  tended  to  be  a 
definite  relationship.    The  amount  of  relationship  is  perhaps  best  shown 


[41] 


TABLE  IX.— COEFFICIENTS  OF  CORRELATION  BETWEEN  MEAN  AGES, 
POINT  SCORES,  I.  Q.'S,  HIGH-SCHOOL  AVERAGES,  FRESHMAN- 
SUBJECT  MARKS,  AND  AVERAGES 


Ages  and  Point  Scores 

Ages  and  I.  Q.'s 

Ages  and  High-School  Averages 

Ages  and  Freshman  Subject  Marks 

Ages  and  Freshman  Averages 

Point  Scores  and  I.  Q.'s 

Point  Scores  and  High-School  Averages 

Point  Scores  and  Freshman-Subject  Marks 

Point  Scores  and  Freshman  Averages , 

I.  Q.'s  and  High-School  Averages 

I.  Q.'s  and  Freshman-Subject  Marks 

I.  Q.'s  and  Freshman  Averages 

High-School  Averages  and  Freshman-Subject  Marks. 

High-School  Averages  and  Freshman  Averages 

Freshman-Subject  Marks  and  Freshman  Averages... 


-.53 
-.53 
-.67 
-.21 
-.46 
+  .97 
+  .48 
+  .24 
+  .21 
+  .54 
+  .21 
+  .19 
+  .30 
+  .36 
+  .42 


by  the  coefficients  of  correlation,  which  will  be  found  in  Table  IX.  From 
this  table  one  can  see  at  a  glance  that  the  only  really  high  correlation 
was  that  found  between  point  scores  and  I. Q.'s.  which  would  be  ex- 
pected to  approach  unit}-,  but  that  all  of  the  coefficients  were  large 
enough,  either  positively  or  negatively,  to  indicate  that  some  relation- 
ship existed,  and  several  of  them  that  it  was  rather  marked.  As  would 
be  expected  the  correlation  of  the  other  items  with  age  were  all  nega- 
tive. All  except  one  were  approximately  —  .50  or  more.  The  writer 
would  have  expected  this  one,  that  between  ages  and  freshman  marks, 
to  be  larger  than  —  .21  and  more  like  the  others,  and  has  no  reason  to 
suggest  why  this  was  not  the  case.  It  appears  that  point  scores  and 
I. Q.'s  agreed  more  closely  with  high-school  averages  than  with  fresh- 
man marks  or  averages.  There  was  little  difference  in  the  degree  of 
relationship  between  high-school  averages  and  marks  in  particular 
freshman  subjects  and  freshman  averages  in  general. 

The  relationship  of  intellectual  ability  to  college  success.  Prob- 
ably the  most  significant  conclusion  suggested  by  the  table  is  that  the 
quality  of  freshman  work  in  college  apparently  depends  much  less  upon 
intelligence  as  shown  by  an  intelligence  test  than  does  the  quality  of 
high-school  work.  This  conclusion  is  borne  out,  although  the  differ- 
ences are  not  so  marked,  by  a  comparison  of  the  coefficients  of  corre- 
lation between  actual  individual  test  scores  and  high-school  marks  with 
those  between  test  scores  and  freshman  marks.  The  chief  explanation 
appears  to  be  that  in  college  conditions  are  such  that  other  factors  than 
mere  intellect  or  mentality  in  the  narrow  sense  play  a  much  more  im- 


[42] 


portant  role  in  determining  success  or  failure  than  is  the  case  in  high 
school.  The  college  freshman  frequently  enters  a  very  different  atmos- 
phere and  environment  than  that  to  which  he  has  been  accustomed.  He 
must  work  much  more  independently  and  with  comparatively  little 
guidance.  It  is  frequently  more  difficult  to  locate  and  secure  the  ma- 
terials to  be  studied.  Distractions  and  opportunities  for  activity  other 
than  study  are  much  more  numerous.  In  view  of  these  and  other  sim- 
ilar facts  such  qualities  as  fixedness  of  purpose,  determination,  perse- 
verance, and  so  on.  would  seem  to  determine  the  quality  of  work  done 
to  a  much  greater  degree  than  in  high  school.  This  fact  or  apparent 
fact  emphasizes  the  need  for  minimizing  the  break  between  high  school 
and  college  and  providing  by  means  of  "freshman  week"  or  other  sim- 
ilar procedures  and  an  efficient  advisory  system  for  the  better  orienta- 
tion and  guidance  of  those  entering-  college. 


[43] 


CHAPTER  V 
SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

The  problem  of  this  bulletin.  The  recent  marked  increase  in  en- 
rollment in  institutions  of  higher  learning  coupled  with  the  decline  in 
the  purchasing  power  of  the  dollar  and  the  demand  for  more  varied  ed- 
ucational offerings  and  activities  has  resulted  in  a  serious  problem  as  to 
what  is  to  be  done  to  meet  the  situation  adequately.  One  of  the  im- 
portant questions  arising  in  the  consideration  of  this  problem  is  that 
of  the  intellectual  ability  of  the  large  numbers  who  now  seek  admittance 
to  college.  It  has  been  the  purpose  of  this  bulletin  to  present  data 
which  throw  some  light  upon  the  question  of  the  extent  to  which  college 
freshmen  constitute  a  select  group  as  compared  with  all  high-school 
graduates. 

The  methods  used  in  this  study.  In  addition  to  reviewing  briefly 
the  evidence  offered  by  investigations  in  Indiana,  North  Carolina,  and 
Massachusetts  as  to  the  degree  of  selection  taking  place  in  the  group  of 
high-school  seniors  who  expected  to  attend  college  a  more  complete  and 
extended  investigation  was  conducted  with  some  thousands  of  Illinois 
high-school  seniors.  They  were  followed  through  the  freshman  year  of 
college  and  data  showing  their  ages,  mental  test  scores,  high-school  av- 
erages, and  freshman  marks  tabulated.  Although  it  is  true  that  cer- 
tain errors  are  present  in  these  data,  it  is  shown  that  some  of  these  er- 
rors have  practically  no  effect  upon  the  average  measures  used  and 
that  others  only  strengthen  whatever  conclusions  may  be  reached  as  to 
the  amount  of  selection  taking  place. 

The  amount  of  selection  found.  It  appears  that  there  is  a  small 
but  reliable  difference  in  ability  between  high-school  seniors  who  plan 
to  attend  college  and  all  seniors,  the  former  of  course  ranking  slightly 
higher.  A  decidedly  greater  difference  exists  between  those  who  actu- 
ally become  college  freshmen  and  all  high-school  graduates.  The  mean 
I.Q.  of  the  former  is  probably  at  least  five  points  higher  than  that  of  the 
latter  and  the  mean  average  high-school  mark  about  two  points  higher. 
The  excess  of  superior  over  inferior  college  freshmen  is  probably  about 
25  per  cent  greater  than  the  corresponding  figures  for  all  high-school 
graduates.  It  is  further  shown  that  a  comparatively  small  amount  of 
selection  occurs  during  the  freshman  year  and  that  those  still  remaining 

[44] 


in  college  at  the  end  of  the  year  are  slightly  superior  to  the  whole  group 
of  those  entering. 

Differences  between  freshmen  attending  various  institutions  of 
higher  learning.  Grouping  the  freshmen  according  to  the  institutions 
or  types  of  institutions  attended  it  appears  that  those  attending  the 
University  of  Illinois  and  other  large  universities  and  technical  schools 
possess  on  the  whole  mental  ability  well  above  the  average,  whereas 
those  entering  teachers  colleges  and  professional,  art,  and  music  schools 
are  decidedly  below  the  average,  and  those  entering  liberal  arts  colleges 
and  small  universities  have  approximately  the  same  average  ability  as 
the  whole  group. 

Differences  between  freshmen  carrying  various  subjects.  Tabu- 
lating the  data  according  to  the  forty-nine  subjects  carried  by  the  fresh- 
men, it  appears  that  there  are  marked  differences  in  the  groups  carry- 
ing different  subjects.  The  evidence  of  the  test  scores,  high-school  aver- 
ages, subject  marks,  and  freshmen  averages  is  conflicting  in  many  cases 
so  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  with  a  high  degree  of  certainty  that  the 
groups  of  freshmen  in  certain  subjects  are  superior  and  those  of  others 
inferior.  On  the  whole  the  conclusion  seems  justified,  however,  that  the 
freshmen  carrying  foreign  languages,  except  perhaps  Spanish,  and  most 
mathematics  courses,  also  philosophy,  constitute  somewhat  superior 
groups,  whereas  those  in  arithmetic,  athletic  coaching,  geography,  home 
economics,  pharmacy,  and  physiology  are  inferior.  In  the  case  of  a  few 
other  subjects  there  are  marked  contradictions  between  the  evidence, 
whereas  in  the  case  of  many  of  them  it  appears  that  on  the  whole  the 
student  groups  therein  do  not  vary  greatly  from  the  general  average  of 
all  freshmen. 


[45] 


-u 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS;  BULLETIN 

Issued  Weekly 
Vol.  XXIV  May  10,  1927  No.  36 

[Entered  as  second-class  matter  December  11,  1912,  at  the  post  office  at  Urbana,  Illinois,  under  the 
Act  of  August  24,  1912.  Acceptance  for  mailing  at  the  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for  in 
section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,   1917,  authorized  July  31,   1918.] 


BULLETIN  NO.  34 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 


ARE  COLLEGE  STUDENTS  A 
SELECT  GROUP 


By 

Charles  W.  Odell 

Assistant  Director,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 


PRICE  25  CENTS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA 

1927 


The  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  was  established  by  act 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  June  1,  1918.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the 
Bureau  to  conduct  original  investigations  in  the  field  of  education, 
to  summarize  and  bring  to  the  attention  of  school  people  the  results 
of  research  elsewhere,  and  to  be  of  service  to  the  schools  of  the 
state  in  other  ways. 

The  results  of  original  investigations  carried  on  by  the  Bureau 
of  Educational  Research  are  published  in  the  form  of  bulletins.  A 
list  of  available  publications  is  given  on  the  back  cover  of 
this  bulletin.  At  the  present  time  five  or  six  original  investigations 
are  reported  each  year.  The  accounts  of  research  conducted  else- 
where and  other  communications  to  the  school  men  of  the  state 
are  published  in  the  form  of  educational  research  circulars.  From 
ten  to  fifteen  of  these  are  issued  each  year. 

The  Bureau  is  a  department  of  the  College  of  Education.  Its 
immediate  direction  is  vested  in  a  Director,  who  is  also  an  instructor 
in  the  College  of  Education.  Under  his  supervision  research  is 
carried  on  by  other  members  of  the  Bureau  staff  and  also  by  grad- 
uates who  are  working  on  theses.  From  this  point  of  view  the 
Bureau  of  Educational  Research  is  a  research  laboratory  for  the 
College  of  Education. 

Bureau  of  Educational  Research 

College  of  Education 

University  of  Illinois,  Urbana 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

THE  STATE  UNIVERSITY 
URBANA 

DAVID  KINLEY,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President 


The  University  Includes  the  Following  Departments 

The  Graduate  School 

The  College  of  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  (Curricula:  General  with  majors,  in 
the  Humanities  and  the  Sciences;  Chemistry  and  Chemical  Engineering;  Pre- 
legal,  Pre-medical  and  Pre-dental;  Journalism,  Home  Economics,  Economic 
Entomology  and  Applied  Optics) 

The  College  of  Commerce  and  Business  Administration  (Curricula:  General 
Business,  Banking  and  Finance,  Insurance,  Accountancy,  Railway  Administra- 
tion, Railway  Transportation,  Industrial  Administration,  Foreign  Commerce, 
Commercial  Teachers,  Trade  and  Civic  Secretarial  Service,  Public  Utilities, 
Commerce  and  Law) 

The  College  of  Engineering  (Curricula:  Architecture,  Ceramics;  Architectural, 
Ceramic,  Civil,  Electrical,  Gas;  General,  Mechanical,  Mining,  Municipal  and 
Sanitary,  and  Railway  Engineering;  Engineering  Physics) 

The  College  of  Agriculture  (Curricula:  General  Agriculture;  Floriculture;  Home 
Economics;  Landscape  Architecture;  Smith-Hughes — in  conjunction  with  the 
College  of  Education) 

The  College  of  Education  (Curricula:  Two  year,  prescribing  junior  standing  for 
admission — General  Education,  Smith-Hughes  Agriculture,  Smith-Hughes  Home 
Economics,  Public  School  Music;  Four  year,  admitting  from  the  high  school — 
Industrial  Education,  Athletic  Coaching,  Physical  Education 

The  University   High    School    is    the   practice   school   of   the    College    of 
Education) 

The  School  of  Music  (four-year  curriculum) 

The  College  of  Law  (Three-year  and  four-year  curricula  based  on  two  years  of 
college  work) 

The  Library  School  (two-year  curriculum  for  college  graduates) 

The  College  of  Medicine  (in  Chicago) 

The  College  of  Dentistry  (in  Chicago) 

The  School  of  Pharmacy  (in  Chicago) 

The  Summer  Session  (eight  weeks) 

Experiment  Stations  and  Scientific  Bureaus:  U.  S.  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station;  Engineering  Experiment  Station;  State  Natural  History  Survey;  State 
Water  Survey;  State  Geological  Survey;  Bureau  of  Educational  Research. 

The  Library  collections  contain  (June  1,  1926)  711.753  volumes  and  155,331  pam- 
phlets.   For  catalogs  and  information  address 

THE  REGISTRAR 

Urbana,  Illinois 


BULLETINS  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH, 

COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION,  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS, 

URBANA,  ILLINOIS 

Price 
No.    6.  Monroe,  Walter  S.   The  Illinois  Examination SO 

No.   7.  Monroe,  Walter  S.   Types  of  Learning  Required  of  Pupils  in  the  Sev- 
enth and  Eighth  Grades  and  in  the  High  School IS 

No.    8.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  A  Critical  Study  of  Certain  Silent  Reading  Tests. .       .50 

No.  10.  Bureau  of  Educational  Research.   Relation  of  Size  of  Class  to  School 

Efficiency JO 

No.  11.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  Relation  of  Sectioning  a  Class  to  the  Effectiveness 

of  Instruction IS 

No.  12.  Odell,  Charles  W.   The  Use  of  Intelligence  Tests  as  a  Basis  of  School 

Organization  and  Instruction SO 

No.  13.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Foster,  I.  0.  The  Status  of  the  Social  Sciences 

in  the  High  Schools  of  the  North  Central  Association SO 

No.  14.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Carter,  Ralph  E.  The  Use  of  Different  Types 
of  Thought  Questions  in  Secondary  Schools  and  Their  Relative  Dif- 
ficulty for  Students 30 

No.  IS.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  The  Constant  and  Variable  Errors  of  Educational 

Measurements 2S 

No.  16.  Odell,  Charles  W.  An  Annotated  Bibliography  Dealing  With  the 
Classification  and  Instruction  of  Pupils  to  Provide  for  Individual 
Differences SO 

No.  17.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Souders,  Lloyd  B.   Present  Status  of  Written 

Examinations  and  Suggestions  for  Their  Improvement SO 

No.  18.  Streitz,     Ruth.     Teachers'     Difficulties    in    Arithmetic    and    Their 

Correctives 30 

No.  19.  Odell,  Charles  W.    The  Progress  and  Elimination  of  School  Children 

in  Illinois SO 

No.  20.  Monroe,   Walter    S.,   and   Mohlman,   Dora    Keen.    Training    in    the 

Technique  of  Study 50 

No.  21.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  A  Survey  of  the  City  Schools  of  Marion,  Illinois. .       .50 

No.  22.  Odell,  Charles  W.  Conservation  of  Intelligence  in  Illinois  High  Schools      JO 

No.  23.  Streitz,  Ruth.  Teachers'  Difficulties  in  Reading  and  Their  Correctives      .30 

No.  24.  Seybolt,  Robert  Francis.  The  Evening  School  in  Colonial  America 50 

No.  25.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Johnston,  Nell  Bomar.  Reporting  Educational 

Research 50 

No.  26.  Brownell,  William  Arthur.  A  Study  of  Supervised  Study JO 

No.  27.  Glick,  H.  N.  Effect  of  Practice  on  Intelligence  Tests JO 

No.  28.  Seybolt,  Robert  Francis.  Source  Studies  in  American  Colonial  Educa- 
tion— The  Private  School JO 

No.  29.  Odell,  Charles  W.,  assisted  by  Blough,  John  H.  An  Annotated  Bib- 
liography Dealing  with  Extra-Curricular  Activities  in  Elementary 
and  High  Schools JO 

I  No.  30.  Monroe,  Walter  S.    The  Duties  of  Men  Engaged  as  Physical  Direc- 
tors or  Athletic  Coaches  in  High  Schools 21 

No.  31.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  assisted  by  Clark,  John  A.  The  Teacher's  Respon- 
sibility for  Devising  Learning  Exercises  in  Arithmetic 50 

No.  32.  Odell,  Charles  W.    The  Interpretation  of  the  Probable  Error  and  the 

Coefficient  of  Correlation » 50 

No.  33.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Herriott,  M.  E.   Objectives  of  United  States 

History  in  Grades  Seven  and  Eight JO 

No.  34.  Odell,  Charles  W.   Are  College  Students  a  Select  Group? 25 


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